1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an insert or an insert assembly for use in combination with containers so as to create a false bottom therein. More particularly, the present invention relates to a planter insert or a planter insert assembly, which when inserted into an oversized planter container, creates a false bottom therein. The present invention thus provides users with a means to make more efficient use of oversize planter containers by reducing the need for excess container fill material and thus reducing overall container mass.
2. Description of the Invention
Gardening is an activity that continues to grow in popularity providing a source of personal satisfaction, providing aesthetic pleasure, the opportunity for relief from daily stresses, and a number of other benefits unique to any given gardener. A great deal of gardening activity is geared toward embellishing the traditional landscape or ground-level plantings. An increasing number of gardeners, however, are discovering the advantages of gardening in planters, containers, and raised beds, which practice is often referred to as “container gardening.” These container gardening styles can be adapted to make gardening easier for older gardeners or individuals with physical disabilities. Container gardening is also adaptable for gardening in a small backyard, an apartment patio, or on the grounds of a retirement home or hospital. Further, so-called container gardening is often practiced with larger sized planter containers or oversized planter containers, which may typically be found in and around shopping malls or along streets adjacent buildings. Oversized planter containers often serve the double function of providing public areas and other suitable environs with decorative surroundings as well as provide buildings and passersby with an added measure of safety. In this last regard, it is noted that oversized planter containers are often intended as vehicular barricades to thwart errant traffic from entering walkways and the like.
Notably, the plant life that is placed or potted in oversized planter containers often have relatively shallow root systems when compared to the depth of the oversized planter container and thus require only modest amounts of soil adjacent the rim of the oversized planter container. Furthermore, oversize planter containers, when empty, typically have sufficient mass to safely provide effective errant vehicle barricades. Completely filling oversized planter containers with soil, rock, and other fill materials often makes the oversized planter container unwieldy and exceedingly difficult to transport requiring costly heavy-duty equipment or machinery and the services of heavy equipment operators. Container garden enthusiasts may thus find cost savings in the ability to reduce soil needs as well as other costly fill materials and services in gardening with oversized planter containers.
When considering container gardening, it is often helpful to look to prior disclosures to ascertain the state of the art. In this regard, it is noted that different types of planter containers and devices for use in combination therewith are disclosed in the prior art. Some of the more pertinent prior art relating to planter containers and the assorted devices is described hereinafter.
U.S. Pat. No. 866,449 ('449 Patent), which issued to Feist, discloses a Jardiniere. The '449 patent teaches a jardiniere having a body with transversely disposed bars in the lower portion thereof, said bars having their ends embedded in the wall of said body and being adapted to support a potted plant within said body. In another embodiment, the jardiniere comprises transversely disposed bars in the lower portion thereof, a block supported on said bars and adapted to support a potted plant thereabove.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,140,932 ('932 Patent), which issued to Avery, discloses a Pot or Container. The '932 Patent teaches a planter insert comprising an upper band section and a lower section formed from flexible material, which is formed to adapt into a planter or frustoconical shape for raising seedlings. When seedlings are transferred to a permanent site, the insert member is destined to disintegrate in the soil.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,463,719 ('719 Patent), which issued to Schackett et al., discloses an Interchangeable Plant and Flower Receptacle. The '719 Patent teaches a flower receptacle comprising a inner supporting means positioned on opposite side walls, the upper surface of said supporting means being positioned below the upper level of said receptacle, a plurality of frames formed to support said flower carrying means and adapted to rest on said supporting means, said supporting means being U-shaped in cross-section and having drainage apertures in the horizontal faces thereof permitting drainage into said receptacle of excess water poured on plants in said flower carrying means, each of said frames having laterally extending latch members at opposite sides thereof, the distance between the inner faces of said latch members being arranged so as to cause said latch members to be in contacting relation only with the inner walls of said U-shaped member to form predetermined vertical openings communicating with said drainage apertures.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,475,858 ('858 Patent), which issued to Flannigan, discloses a Planter Shroud and Planter. The '858 Patent teaches a shroud for a planter of the type employed in malls for towns and cities. The shroud is in the form of a hollow body with an open bottom for positioning over the planter, the top of the shroud including an inwardly and downwardly directed lip defining a central opening through which the plant in the planter extends when the shroud is positioned over the planter. By use of such a shroud, the planter may readily be provided with a dressed appearance and the planter itself, being completely hidden by the shroud can be manufactured without the normal lip structure and thus susceptible to a matched steel die single molding operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,098 ('098 Patent), which issued to Smith, discloses a Planter. The '098 Patent teaches a receptacle having an imperforate bottom with a perforated, horizontal wall spaced upwardly from the bottom and dividing the receptacle into upper and lower compartments. Tubes project through the perforated wall and extend upwardly above the upper edge of the receptacle and downwardly to the bottom of said receptacle. Lower end portions of the tubes below the horizontal wall are also perforated. The upper compartment is adapted to receive soil and the lower compartment receives excess water which evaporates through the tubes and keeps the soil moist.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,579 ('579 Patent), which issued to Pavelka, discloses a Drainage Disk and Reservoir System for a Planter. The '579 Patent teaches a disk shaped insert for use in conjunction with an elevated bottom drain in a plant container. The disk rests on the drain to create a water reservoir below the disk. Excessive water is permitted to escape the container through the drain. The soil is held above the reservoir by the disk.
From a review of these patents and other prior art generally known in the relevant art, it will be seen that the prior art does not teach a container insert or insert assembly designed for use in combination with an oversized planter pot or oversized planter container for creating a false bottom in the same wherein the container insert assembly comprises a container insert or soil support platform, a support spacer member, and an optional moisture-receiving tray. More specifically, it will be seen that that the prior art does not teach a soil support platform comprising a substantially planar superior support surface, a substantially planar inferior support surface, a peripheral support ridge, a plurality of support ribs, and a plurality of matter-receiving apertures. Neither does the prior art teach a support spacer member as a means for enabling users to more effectively position a false bottom at a select container periphery as well as a means for enabling users to form a false bottom in planter containers having open mouth or inner container diameter dimensions that greatly exceed the dimensions of the soil support platform. In this regard, it is further noted that the prior art does not teach a support spacer member comprising a substantially planar superior spacer surface, a substantially planar inferior spacer surface, a sloped outer peripheral surface, a sloped inner peripheral surface, a horizontal spacer thickness, and a platform support ridge.
Further, it will be seen that the prior art does not teach an optional moisture-receiving tray for capturing and retaining excess moisture that may drain from the matter-receiving apertures of the soil support platform. In this regard, it is noted that the prior art does not teach a moisture-receiving tray comprising a superior moisture-collecting tray surface, an inferior tray surface, a peripheral tray surface or rim, and a plurality of tray ribs.
The prior art thus perceives a need for a container insert or insert assembly designed for use in combination with an oversized planter pot or oversized planter container for creating a false bottom in the same. In this regard, the prior art perceives a need for a container insert or insert assembly designed for use in combination with an oversized planter pot or oversized planter container to increase the efficiency of soil usage. In this regard, it is contemplated that the prior art perceives a need for a false bottom insert for oversized planter containers that will function to reduce the need to have excess stone, excess soil, or other types of excess fill material in those portions of an oversized planter container where root systems of plant life may not reach. The prior art thus perceives a need for a soil support platform comprising a substantially planar superior support surface, a substantially planar inferior support surface, a peripheral support ridge, and a plurality of support ribs for supporting soil in an elevated position above a container bottom. Further, it is contemplated that the prior art perceives a need for a false bottom insert assembly that will function to reduce the resulting mass of an oversized planter container when excess stone, excess soil or other types of excess fill material are placed into the container.
Further, the prior art perceives a need for a false bottom insert assembly that enables users to more effectively position a false bottom at a select container periphery as well as a false bottom that enables users to form a false bottom in planter containers having open mouth or inner container diameter dimensions that greatly exceed the dimensions of the soil support platform. In this regard, the prior art perceives a need for a support spacer member comprising a substantially planar superior spacer surface, a substantially planar inferior spacer surface, a sloped outer peripheral surface, a sloped inner peripheral surface, a horizontal spacer thickness, and a platform support ridge.
Further the prior art perceives a need for a false bottom insert assembly comprising a plurality of matter-receiving apertures. More specifically, the prior art perceives a need for a false bottom insert assembly that enables the user to prevent root rot by allowing excess moisture to drain from soil-bound root systems through moisture drain apertures in the insert assembly. Alternatively, the prior art perceives a need for an optional moisture-receiving tray usable in combination with a soil support platform and the support spacer member for capturing and retaining excess moisture from the matter-receiving or moisture drain apertures of the soil support platform. In this regard, it is noted that the prior art perceives a need for a moisture-receiving tray that comprises a superior moisture-collecting tray surface, an inferior tray surface, a peripheral tray surface or rim, and a plurality of tray ribs. The prior art thus perceives a need for a moisture-receiving tray that operates to provide a readily available moisture or water source for plant species requiring relatively large amounts of moisture. Still further, the prior art perceives a need to provide a false bottom insert assembly that provides a readily available moisture source for plants requiring less moisture, thus enabling the user to increase the interval time between watering episodes.